Writer / Director
I took on the role as writer/director as I wanted to try writing and directing a comedy. Mockumentaries have always appealed to me as they subvert what we would expect to see in a documentary with a comedic twist.
The idea for VET-MAN came about upon watching Channel 4's 'Supervet' which follows esteemed vet, Dr Noel Fitzpatrick as he treats animals in his specialist vet practice. The series is shot through fixed cameras, cut between interviews with vets and pet owners as they talk about the animals featured on the show, and normally involving some sort of emotional story behind the animal to accentuate how much these pets mean to their owners. I felt that we could twist the genre into a comedy by making the lead vet incompetent and ignorant of pets' needs juxtaposed with an authentic vet setting and storyline.
I looked into the work of Armando Iannucci, writer and director of The Thick Of It, and found that the general rule for writing comedy is to ensure that the jokes are timed well, and the characters' reactions can greatly add to the effectiveness of the joke. As I delved further into the mockumentary genre, looking at series' such as 'Come Fly With Me', it became clear that comedic value was added through the dichotomy between the serious tone of a documentary with the absurdity of the characters in this environment. Therefore I found the key elements of writing and directed a mockumentary were an effective build-up, timing, and authenticity of the set to provide a believable backdrop to contrast with the ridiculous.
I began by writing the lead character, Dr Tim Stewart, as this incompetent, yet arrogant vet with a complete disregard for animals' wellbeing. This would contrast with how I would eventually plan to structure and shoot the film, which would be in the style of the factual entertainment series, 'Supervet'. It would become very important for us to ensure that we would make the setting, props and costume look genuine to sell the idea that we are making a documentary so that the finished product would be an effective mockumentary.
The script features the key elements that I found in my research. The build-up came in the form of Sheila's interview where she talks about her husband who has died and that Coco is very special to her, followed by the increasing suggestion the Dr Stewart is not an ordinary vet, and then leading to the death of Coco. The humour in the script is absurd at times - Dr Stewart's cow infatuation - and also quite dark, as he disposes of Coco's body in the bin and it would be the deliver of these lines and actions that would make the comedy flow naturally. When it came to shooting, we also ensured that we gave the authentic feeling through how we dressed the set, used props and practical effects, and how closely we followed the documentary shooting style.
I chose the cast based on the characters - I felt that Aidan was an effective Dr Stewart through his deadpan delivery and his ability to explain through the prognosis in a confident manner. Samantha was also a good choice for Sheila as she was able to provide some cracking reaction shots which added to the humour of her scene with Dr Stewart. Working with my dog, Coco, was a new experience but I learned how difficult it was to work with an animal. I feel that she worked effectively and the relationship between Sheila and Coco was believable in how they worked together on screen. As director, I ensured that I ran through the lines with the actors as I blocked the scenes so that they could fulfil my vision from the script and deliver good performances.
The film starts with the intro sequence, which I worked with the editor, Melissa, to create. We ensured that it set the correct tone for a factual entertainment show such as this, and I feel this was achieved well. After this, we start to go into establishing the setting and building up Sheila and Coco's backstory. These follow the main features of a documentary series such as 'Supervet' which I found focused on the pet owners and built up the relationship between the pets and the owners. However, rather than building tension to create interest as to what happens to the animals, our build up would lead to the punchline of the jokes that came later in the film. It was important to make Sheila's opening scene emotional, so that when the jokes come in, there is a contradiction between the dark and the light which would create humour throughout.
I liaised with the director of photography, Katie, as we set up the lighting for the film. We aimed to make the scenes with Coco and Sheila at her house and at the park quite warm-looking to look happy and idyllic which would contrast with the vet itself which I wanted to have cooler lighting to look more clinical to match the setting and genre. We also chose to shoot the scenes in the surgery with static cameras to give the impression that there is no camera operator and give the film a fly-on-the-wall-esque style to it.
I wanted the consultation scene to feel awkward between Sheila and Dr Stewart to give the vet a sense of peculiarity and oddness to his character which was accentuated by showing his affection for cows. By focusing on Sheila's reaction to Dr Stewart's comments, it allows the audience to grasp the ridiculousness of his lines through her, and Melissa and I chose to draw out these shots as long as possible to let the lines sink in and allow for Sheila's bewilderment to come through. The music was also picked particularly to help convey the tone of the film. Sheila's interview had a piano track to emphasis the sadness of the scene and another sad track is used for the waiting room scene in which Dr Stewart tells Sheila that there were complications in the surgery, as well as a tense track in the surgery itself. Mel cuts these tracks on two beats - the first cuts out when Dr Stewart stabs the needle into Coco and the second cuts out when her body hits the bottom of the bin. This helps with the comedic timing by completely undercutting the emotion and tension with the characters disregard for the animal.
The surgery scene itself was initially intended to include a graphic blood splatter as we saw him operating on Coco but due to complications on the shoot we were not able to use the footage. This became a blessing in disguise as Melissa and I later agreed to rely entirely on sound design to give an impression of what was happening. This works quite well as the audience is allowed to picture the scene for themselves and visualise how badly the surgery is going through the sounds. It may have been too 'on the nose' to show exactly what was happening so the is a level of subtlety added to the comedy in the scene. The punchline comes when Dr Stewart hands Sheila the bloodstained leaflet and the shock of seeing the blood all over the leaflet darkly contrasts with the sadness of the scene.
In conclusion, I am pleased with how the script evolved over time. I have not written comedy before and through researching into the genre, I feel I was able to deliver a reasonably strong comedic tone and I feel this translated well into the finished film. The authentic setting and the photography and edit contribute to building up the mockumentary style of the film.